16 Interesting facts about Yuzvendra Chahal

Author : Veeran Rajendiran
25 May, 2016

as not at all surprising to see Yuzvendra Chahal getting selected for India’s tour of Zimbabwe . He has been doing well in the past couple of seasons, especially in the Indian Premier League. The nippy leg-spinner who was a chess player before switching to cricket as a teenager has had a quite interesting career as a sportsman. He currently plays for Haryana in the domestic circuit and performing extremely with Royal Challengers Bangalore this season. Going by his current form, he is most likely to be a part of the playing XI. Here are some of the interesting facts about the hardworking young leggie.

1.Born on:

Yuzvendra Singh Chahal was born on 23 July 1990 in Jind district, Haryana.

2. Family:

KK Chahal is an advocate in Jind and ahs played cricket at the university level.

3. Starts out as a chess player:

Unlike most of the cricketers, Yuzvendra Chahal did not start out as a cricketer during his childhood. His first interest was the brainy game of chess. He began playing chess at the age of just 7, learning the tricks on a computer.

4. A future chess prospect:

Prior to his exposure to cricket, young Chahal had represented India in chess in various age group levels. He was crowned as the Under-12 champion in the 2002 national children’s chess. Next year, he represented Indian in the Asian Youth Championship (Under 12 category) at Kozhikode. He was placed in the Top 20. He was also the part of Indian U-16 chess team and played in the World Youth Championships for India in Greece.

5. Unique sportsman:

Chahal is the only player to represent India in chess and cricket. His name is listed in FIDE’s official site. His ratings are 1946 points.

6. Destiny makes him switch over to cricket:

Chahal received full support from his family, especially his father. Somehow, he could not find a sponsor so he changed his focus from chess to cricket.

7. Hogs the limelights:

The leg-spinner first attracted attention when he took 34 wickets in the National Under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy in 2009, ending the tournament as its leading wicket-taker.

8. First class debut:

Chahal made his first-class debut for Haryana the same year in 2009 against Haryana ain Indore.

9. Make his way into the IPL:

Chahal was picked by Mumbai Indians in 2011. He was bought for his base price of 10 Lakh.

10. Most memorable IPL performance:

It was in the Champions League that he got an extended run in the side – he featured in the playing XI in all the matches and starred in Mumbai’s win in the final with a spell of 3-0-9-2. However, his dry run continued as in the next two years with Mumbai, he managed only one game.

11. Revival:

He was picked up for INR 10 lakhs by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2014 auction of the IPL and the new season brought with it a new lease of life for the young leg-spinner’s career.

12. Purple cap holder:

He is currently the purple cap holder in IPL 9. Chahal has 19 wickets to his name from 11 games with an average of 17.05. His took his best bowling figures of 4/25 against Kings XI Punjab just few days ago.

13. Prankster:

A self-confessed prankster, when asked to describe himself, says, “I’m a funny guy who likes to keep the atmosphere around me light. I’m a total child at heart, always up to mischief.”

14. Drools over Katrina Kaif:

An avid movie buff, Chahal’s dream date is Katrina Kaif. “I like Katrina a lot, her smile appeals the most to me.”

15. Most prized wicket:

He considers the wicket of Delhi Daredevils skipper Kevin Pietersen as the prized one

16. A football buff too:

Apart from cricket and chess, Chahal is also a football. He supports Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo is his most favourite footballer.